Oh man, I don't dislike Gibson or anything (I enjoyed Neuromancer almost entirely for the vibes), but those reissued covers on the Sprawl trilogy hurt to look at - the work that defined a genre deserves better on its cover than a Procreate sketch by ArtStation User #987454.
Do you have a stance on his *non*-fiction? I seem to recall liking his writing more when he was writing about real stuff rather than pulp noir nonsense.
Never read his nonfiction, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was better.
I think people who read primarily for the vibe are the ones who love Gibson. He's all vibe and style! I think had I done this dive into his work when I was 19, I would have liked the journey quite a bit more.
His art isn't for everyone, but I actually like his covers for The Sprawl. I think they're suitably evocative and provide the kind of hyperdetail that matches Gibson's style well. To me, Deathburger is much more influenced by Katsuhiro Otomo and other Japanese artists than he is by western SF artists, and I happen to like the visual style of Akira than I do the visual style of western cyberpunk.
It’s a long time since I read it but I recalled Agency being more coherent than The Peripheral. Saying that, I donated the book shortly after reading it, which tells me that I had no intention of ever re-reading it.
I have mixed feelings about Gibson, but I do not have mixed feeling about Agency; I therefore wrote an aggressively cruel review of that book that haters might want to check out to experience some kind of cathartic "Two Minutes Hate": https://haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/i/153373669/agency-by-william-gibson
Oh man, I don't dislike Gibson or anything (I enjoyed Neuromancer almost entirely for the vibes), but those reissued covers on the Sprawl trilogy hurt to look at - the work that defined a genre deserves better on its cover than a Procreate sketch by ArtStation User #987454.
Do you have a stance on his *non*-fiction? I seem to recall liking his writing more when he was writing about real stuff rather than pulp noir nonsense.
Never read his nonfiction, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was better.
I think people who read primarily for the vibe are the ones who love Gibson. He's all vibe and style! I think had I done this dive into his work when I was 19, I would have liked the journey quite a bit more.
As for the art, Deathburger is kind of a big deal! https://citadel9.com/
His art isn't for everyone, but I actually like his covers for The Sprawl. I think they're suitably evocative and provide the kind of hyperdetail that matches Gibson's style well. To me, Deathburger is much more influenced by Katsuhiro Otomo and other Japanese artists than he is by western SF artists, and I happen to like the visual style of Akira than I do the visual style of western cyberpunk.
It’s a long time since I read it but I recalled Agency being more coherent than The Peripheral. Saying that, I donated the book shortly after reading it, which tells me that I had no intention of ever re-reading it.
I have mixed feelings about Gibson, but I do not have mixed feeling about Agency; I therefore wrote an aggressively cruel review of that book that haters might want to check out to experience some kind of cathartic "Two Minutes Hate": https://haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/i/153373669/agency-by-william-gibson
How do you feel about his short stories?
Burning Chrome is his short story collection and I would say most of them are very bad.